Must admit even though I'm a bit gutted at not getting 3 points today after the chances we created I thought it was a great game to watch I can see improvement with Johnson's team and tactics and I still believe we have a chance of top 2
You are not allowed to say it was a poor result. Expect pelters or being accused of being arrogant for dare suggesting it
You can see how Johnson is trying out different ideas while trying, at the same time, to win games. It's tortuous at times but I can see what he's aiming for ... ... with the previous managers I had absolutely no idea.
Really was. Any club having aspirations of top two need to be putting poor sides like these away. Whats that 1 point off these this season. Awful
It was disappointing mate, no question. It's a strange league. Hull dropped 3 points at already relegated Burton and Portsmouth had another poor result. All you can do is keep tweaking things until it clicks ... ... hopefully.
The thing is even though it doesn't seem likely ATM it wouldn't surprise me to see us winning a few games on the trot
Out main problem is that we never seem comfortable on the ball. MK Dons passed it with ease at times and were comfortable with it. Yes it's the way they play, but when we have it the ball is either a yard away or too slow/quick. We are the best team in the league for passing backwards, admittedly today we weren't as bad, but on a big pitch we should be using it all and stretching the opposition. We still created enough in the spells we had to have won, but on the other hand at times we were so sloppy at the back. A run of wins is what we need to do, and for the 3rd consecutive season in this league we are drawing too many.
We are not comfortable on the ball and the passing game isn't very good at all and it showed today! Yes the pitch was like a ploughed field but was very poor. I still think he should have changed things at half time as the substitutions made a difference but didn't have enough time. It's a slow process I know but we could have done better.
why change a winning team ? ridiculous like 1985 after we beat Norwich a week before confident we would win the league cup. In the league we will never win 2 games on the trot this season now because of that, this team is devoid of ideas, they shrug their shoulders wondering what to do from defence to midfield, they seem determined not to finish in the top 6. The other teams slipping up is the only way we will make it now and 78-80 points gets up this season.
Change the record man!! He put a positive spin on it. I.e. he enjoyed the performance. You just put negativity everywhere you go
I don't like picking out individuals for criticism, but I believe that our keeper is costing us points right now. That parry for the first goal was very poor.
I don’t think we’re uncomfortable on the ball personally. I also can see why he didn’t change it at half time. We got back into the game and we’re the better side for the last 15 minutes of the first half. Still think he should’ve changed it sooner but understand why he didn’t at HT.
The while defensive unit is costing us goals, crap teams are walking the ball into our box and creating chances. It's a big worry for a team that is trying to aim for automatic promotion. Add onto that an inability to take chances regularly at the other end and we are below the playoffs, deservedly so as well.
Definite good signs from LJ but I’d question his persistence with Burge and Power. I’d also be very disappointed if I was Dan Neil, he impressed me pre season and I think he’s gonna be a very good Championship player if not higher. But mainly I hate our high floaty crosses and lack of pace in the middle of the park.
We have conceded 21 goals the second lowest in the league, only beaten by Lincoln City who have conceded 20. In some respects I agree with you about our defence though, we concede too much possession because of the number of long balls our centre backs play, either into touch or to their defenders. Even if we win the first ball we rarely win the second ball. I thought we looked really good yesterday in the second half when we used the whole pitch. Instead of playing short passes to players with two or three men on their backs, we kept our shape and stretched them by playing a less congested game and we had time to lift our heads when we received the ball.
For the first time in I don't know how long I can see a pattern of play emerging. Johnson seems to be getting his ideas across but it's a slow process trying to discard the slap dash and sloppy habits the players were allowed to develop during the previous regimes. I for one enjoyed the game purely because we looked good enough to get back into it after we went one down. I never had that feeling under Parkinson, Grayson etc.
That sums it up for me. You can see that Johnson is constantly trying to work out how to fix things, but every move causes a reaction elsewhere on the pitch. It needs to settle down soon though, at times the players look confused. When O'Brien is the coolest head on the pitch you know that it's too frenetic. Johnson wants things quick but not rushed ... ... a distinction that some are currently missing.
Johnson said an interesting thing in an interview a couple of weeks ago that I haven't heard from any other manager. He said "I can coach the team to get from our eighteen yard line to theirs, but in both boxes players must take responsibilty, I can give them practice drills, shooting etc, but if they haven't got the skill, I can't give them it". I thought that was very honest of him and buys him a bit of time to get his own players in.
